Anyone in the warehousing industry can attest to how complex and multifaceted the process of storing and shipping goods has become. Besides keeping track of inventory, warehouse managers must also ensure that products are well received, kept in good order and shipped to the right destinations, all the while ensuring that each stage of the process is done so as efficiently as possible.

That’s not even taking into consideration the importance of keeping costs as low as possible.

While there are procedural methods that can reduce your transportation costs, improvements in technology are changing the warehousing industry even further than ever before.

Enter RFID: a proven and increasingly utilized bit of technology that is streamlining warehousing processes.

What is RFID?
RFID (Radio Frequency Identification) is a method of tracking inventory by use of microchips that communicate with an antenna using radio waves. The chips eliminate the necessity of scanning individual product barcodes when receiving, sending or tracking inventory throughout its lifecycle.

The tracking is done in real time and can help to locate any specific product no matter what stage of the shipping process it is currently going through.

Streamlining Day-to-Day Operations
Tracking and storing products is a process that eats up a lot of labor resources and time, especially when dealing with large quantities of many different types of products.

When RFID is attached to pieces of cargo, there is no need to manually input the location and shipping information as the cargo is moved in and out of the warehouse. Instead, movements are automatically tracked in a central system, allowing for greater accuracy and planning of in-house movements as well as the shipping of orders.

More efficient movement of product means more orders can be shipped in less time. Furthermore, claims will be reduced significantly because it becomes far easier to track incoming and outgoing shipments.

Organizing Warehouse Stock
RFID can optimize the utilization of space within warehouses because workers have better control over the movement of products within the confines of the allotted space. When new shipments come in, workers don’t have to scour the warehouse to find space for products. Instead, they can access the back-end of the warehouse management application to locate empty space or dictate the movement of cargo to make new space.

By knowing where cargo is stored at all times, workers not only optimize shipping but can provide better customer service with even smaller wait times.

The industry is changing as many warehouse managers continue to update and streamline their processes by implementing real time RFID.